Legacy to be determined for Washington Huskies seniors

Justin Holiday is one of three Huskies seniors playing their final game at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Luke Springer/The UW Daily)

The tears shed so famously by Washington Huskies forward Quincy Pondexter during his senior night festivities last season begged the question.

And UW coach Lorenzo Romar seemed an appropriate source to ask.

Of the three Huskies playing their final game at Hec Edmundson Pavilion at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against USC – Justin Holiday, Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Venoy Overton – who is the most likely to become misty-eyed as they walk out of the tunnel for the final time?

“I don’t think any of them will cry like Quincy did, even if they want to,” Romar offered. “They teased him so much, they can’t follow and do the same thing.

“I don’t know. It’d be hard to tell. Maybe none of them will at all.”

There are, of course, more urgent matters at hand. The Huskies (20-9, 11-6 Pac-10) need a win to further bolster their NCAA Tournament resume, which took a hit with a bad loss to Washington State last weekend but was salvaged by a 70-63 win over UCLA on Thursday.

And Holiday, Bryan-Amaning and Overton say they don’t have much time for nostalgia, even as their home careers come to an end.

“We’ve still got games left, so we know after Saturday we’ve still got more work to do,” Overton said. “If we keep winning, that’ll make a perfect senior season.”

It will likely be the way this season ends that defines the legacy of the class. They were juniors last year and all contributed to the Huskies’ run to the Sweet 16, but Pondexter was the team’s unquestioned leader and Isaiah Thomas was its No. 2 scoring option.

Each played their own role on the 2008-2009 team that won the Pac-10 championship, though Pondexter, Thomas, Jon Brockman and Justin Dentmon supplied the bulk of the scoring.

Now? Holiday and Bryan-Amaning have started all season, each averaging double-figure scoring per game, each a candidate for at least some sort of all-conference nod. And Overton has been pesky as always, failing to cement a spot in the starting lineup but still providing big-time minutes off the bench.

The opportunity is present for them to lead this team to its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, a feat accomplished at in the Romar era by only Brandon Roy, Bobby Jones, Mike Jensen and Co.

“There weren’t a whole lot of stars in front of these guys’ names when they came in,” Romar said. “But several of them have a chance to play beyond college, and they helped us win a lot of games.”

Here’s a capsulated look at each of their UW careers, with the caveat that their most important games have yet to be played.

Justin Holiday

“Justin just has winner written all over him”

That Holiday found himself playing Pac-10 basketball is no surprise considering his bloodlines.

But for those who remember the raw, ultra-scrawny kid who opposing teams didn’t even bother to guard, it’s hard to imagine that he’s turned into one of the conference’s most dynamic players.

Holiday was a role player his first three years here, earning a reputation as a defensive stopper with extremely limited offensive game.

He laughed earlier this year recalling his sophomore season, when his perimeter game was so lacking that the Huskies essentially played 5-on-4 when he was on the floor.

Nobody’s ignoring him now. Holiday is third on the team in scoring at 11.7 points per game, also pulling down 5.2 rebounds while typically defending the opponent’s best offensive player.

“Justin just has winner written all over him. … Some questioned, were we only taking him because of his brother Jrue?” Romar said, referring to Holiday’s younger brother who is now a point guard for the Philadelphia 76ers. “That wasn’t the case. I think everybody can see why that wasn’t the case.”

Consider that Holiday has scored more points this season (338) than in his first three seasons combined (287). His struggles early in his career were due partially to a bout with mononucleosis as a freshman, followed by a staph infection, followed by a hernia surgery.

Still, he impacts the game perhaps as much as any other Husky. And he’s likely to earn a spot on the Pac-10’s All-Defensive team for the second consecutive season.

Romar compared him to former Los Angeles Lakers great Michael Cooper – a long, rangy wing player who can shoot, defend and run the floor.

Holiday may get the chance to prove he can do all of that at the next level. Some projections of this year’s NBA Draft include Holiday as a mid second-rounder, though he’d likely need to add considerable muscle to be able to bang against bigger guys in the league.

But he’s come up plenty big already at Washington.

Matthew Bryan-Amaning

“Matthew had to really, really want to be helped”

Romar isn’t entirely correct when he says this class didn’t garner much in the way of star-ratings from the recruiting services.

Bryan-Amaning was considered a pretty big prize, and earned a four-star rating from Scout.com. The 6-foot-9 native of London, England came to the Huskies from South Kent Prep School in Connecticut, the same program for which Thomas played his final two years of pre-collegiate hoops.

It’s hard to assess Bryan-Amaning’s career without wondering if he could have done more with his athleticism. He’s quieted some doubters this year by averaging 16.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, benefiting from being one of the Huskies’ primary scoring options.

It took him a while to get to this point, though. Bryan-Amaning has said on several occasions that he wasn’t relied on as a post player in prep school, so he had to learn how to play with his back to the basket when he got to Montlake. He still struggles with misses close to the rim, and has trouble passing out of double-teams.

Still, the numbers don’t lie. Bryan-Amaning will leave Washington second all-time in blocked shots, and is one of just two UW players to collect 100 career blocks and 100 career steals. And he has a chance of being named first-team all-Pac-10 this year.

“Matthew has developed into a player with more substance than he had when he initially came in,” Romar said. “A less is more kind of approach with him now. He’s become an all-conference guy, one of the top rebounders in this entire league. That wasn’t his forte necessarily when he came in. It’s been good to see him mature in that area.”

Developing a mid-range jump shot will likely be Bryan-Amaning’s No. 1 goal during this offseason. If he can knock down those kind of shots, Romar thinks he’d be a “can’t miss” NBA prospect.

As for Saturday, though …

“Just trying to concentrate, stay focused on everything we’ve got to go to make the rest of the season successful,” the senior said.

Venoy Overton

“The V.O. we know”

Romar is asked if he’s ever played against anyone with a defensive style as aggressive as Overton’s.

Yes, he says. In an NBA summer league. The dude’s name was Michael Knight, the uncle of former UCLA players Joe and Josh Shipp.

“I’m gonna rip you three times,” Knight told Romar the week before a summer league championship game.

Yep. Sounds like Venoy.

The pesky guard will leave among the school’s all-time leaders in steals and assists, but will be remembered by opponents as perhaps the most hated player in the conference.

That’s a compliment, for the most part. Overton’s legs often ran as quickly as his mouth, as he quickly earned a reputation as one of the Pac-10’s most frazzling on-ball defenders.

That label got the best of him sometimes. Blow-bys and backdoor buckets became more common against Overton as opponents figured out ways to slow his aggressiveness – several teams chose to simply screen him the entire way up the floor to give the ball-handler a chance to get it across midcourt without facing any pressure.

Otherwise, Overton, who originally committed to USC, was somewhat of an enigma. His offensive game didn’t mature as expected, though he’s still one of the team’s more effective slashers and a clutch free throw shooter.

Saturday will be his 133rd game played, which is just three short of Pondexter’s all-time record.

“Venoy will be a guy that people always remember when they talk about these teams,” Romar said. “He’s a guy that has changed games, has got something going when he’s come into the game. He’s provided a lot of fun and excitement for people to watch.”

And his tough-guy act probably won’t allow Overton to be the one who gets choked up during Saturday’s festivities.

“Holiday,” said Thomas, asked who he thought was most likely to lose it. “He’s trying to say he won’t, but he will. Or Matt. I think Holiday will.”

Romar will surely understand. He said he tries to distract himself during senior night ceremonies with thoughts of old movies and things of that nature, anything to keep him from tearing up.

“When they come through that tunnel for the last time, you spend all these years with these guys, you’ve gone through things with them behind closed doors, good, bad, and you watch them grow. … You’re family,” Romar said. “To know they’re going to be doing fine but you’re not going to have that opportunity to be with them all the time, it’s tough.”